There’s this song from 1960 called “Dominick the Donkey” about an Italian Christmas donkey. Supposedly it was financed by one of the big mafia families in New York. I have love/hate feelings about the song. It’s super catchy, and once I hear the first few chords, that’s it: I’ll have it stuck in my head for weeks.

Do you have any holiday family traditions?

For the past few years, we’ve been going to my in-laws on Christmas Eve to eat a “traditional” (for our family) spaghetti dinner and open gifts.

Worst gift you ever received?

These horrible huarache sandal-type shoes from K-mart with the price tag still attached, courtesy of my ex-husband. There were soooo many things wrong with that gift. (Shoes? From K-mart? For $6.99? Bound together with a plastic connector?)

Worst gift you ever gave?

Those shoes, re-gifted to someone I didn’t like!

Favorite holiday memory?

The outdoor Christmas markets in Germany. Magical.

If you could share one lesser known fact about yourself to our readers, what will it be?

I have this strange glitch in my brain when it comes to memorizing numbers: I can’t even remember my own phone number!

Weirdest thing you collect?

My tiki mug collection is weird (I wrote about this on WLP last year). I also collect Fiestaware, vintage postcards from California featuring redwood trees, and vintage Ouija boards.

My favorite Christmas memory was when I was 8 years old. I got to come home from the hospital (I was a very sick little girl for a while) in a snowstorm, on Christmas Eve. Santa brought me a Life Size Baby Crissy doll. I got to take her back to the hospital with me when I had to go back.

My favorite memory would have to be when my children was young and we were struggling, a business adopted our family and pulled up with two vans with gifts, clothing and foods for us. It was the best Christmas ever!! They donated with love. After I spread story and got my work to then start adopting families every year. I knew what it meant for me and wanted to do same for others. So now twenty-five years later they are still help families at Christmas as well as sisters stores. I feel happy I was in on the starting of all the giving the company does and that it continues every year. A seed was planted and it has grown so much. Donate, give, spread the happiness!! You might be planting a seed!!

heh, my fave memory is from back in the early 70s. My brother was maybe three or four years old, and he was the first one to open presents at midnight. My grandmother gave him a box of Lincoln Logs, and he decided he didn’t want them, so he gave them back to her. I know it doesn’t sound funny, but it was quite funny, in person

One of my favorite memories was when I received a jewelry box from my Grandmother. She stocked that puppy with so much jewelry that was appropriate for my age ( ten). I always look at that box and think about her.

My favorite memory is (and it still happens every year, so yay!) my family and I meet up with relatives we only see once a year on Christmas Eve. There’s tons of food, booze, animals running around fairly crazed, and probably 15-20 people packed into a small 3 bedroom house. It’s wonderful! We all go walking around the neighborhood in Torrance (which is famous for all the houses putting up LOTS & LOTS of LIGHTS) to see the crazy ass decorations that people put up. (Animatronic stuff, balloon type of things, smokers etc).. We eat, drink, play music, open gifts. It’s totally awesome.

(And no need to enter me into the contest .. I have signed books by the lovely Jenn_Bennett.. so I’m set )

My favorite Christmas memories usually involve food. Last year especially was rather interesting, since we decided to make our own sushi and have it as our Christmas dinner. Gotta say, it was delicious.

My grandmother had 35 grandchildren and she made gifts for each and every one of them. For the girls, she made doll quilts, pajama bags, etc. To make these gifts she used material scraps that the whole family gave to her. Each hand-made gift had a memory as you saw your favorite dress, you dad’s shirt, etc. Some of us, 40 years later, still have these gifts. What beautiful memories about a loved grandmother who, physically, is long gone.

I just loved Christmas Eve at my Grandparents house. Everyone would go over there and have snacks and they would make homemade egg nog and hot cocoa. They would tell the younger kids the Night Before Christmas story and then we would go home to bed. I remember the adults would say that Santa had been sighted in a certain area and we had to go to bed. Those were the best times

It’s not very clear and I don’t know how old I was but I remember going to Midnight Mass in our tiny church in Youngstown NY one year. It was packed and no lights were on in the entire church. We all held candles. The carols were beautiful and it was just the most peaceful night ever for me.

My favorite Christmas memory is from childhood when my brother, sister and I would go and cut down our own Christmas tree. We lived on 6 acres of land and we would take our ax and find the tree we wanted and chop it down.

My favorite Christmas memory is when I was little and we lived in a suburb of Chicago, taking a day off of school with my mom and my sister and going downtown to look at the windows on State Street. We would eat at Marshall Fields, shop and look at all of the lights and windows. Both of my parents are gone now and the rest of my family is spread out so we don’t really see each other. I really miss those times. Of course, now that I have a family of my own, we do somethings that have become tradition also and I would miss doing those things too. Merry Christmas everyone!

My favorite Christmas memory is sort of a combination of Christmas Eves when my husband and kids and I played board games, ate appetizers, listened to Cmas music and watched movies. They are 19, 18 and 12 now, but I hope we can keep doing this for a long time. It’s still hard for me to believe they are so grown up.

great interview. well I didn’t grow up with much Christmas, since I grew up in a Jewish family. but one year my dad wrapped up a aquarium for hannukah.. I got so excited opening it, I stuck a screwdriver into it and broke the glass. I had to use money from my grandma to buy a new tank.
impatient me… yes indeed

I had just had my second child and I was rather sick, yet I was still expected to host Christmas day at my house for our family. My husband decided that he would cook Christmas dinner for everyone but the only thing he could cook well in an oven (not on a grill) was meatloaf (I have a good recipe.) He cooked that year and ever since, my kids insist on having “the Christmas meatloaf”. My father-in-law insists on it too. I suppose that is a new tradition for my family, but it will always be a favorite memory of mine.

Of course favorite memories revolve around my son when he was very young and all things were new and joyous to him, but one memory that always will be precious was sitting in my grandparents living room as a young girl and listening to my great grandmother tell stories of homesteading in North Dakota and the efforts they had to make to succeed. I often wish I was wise enough at that time to write down the things she told us, what a wonderful thing to pass on. Thank you for getting me thinking and remembering something precious.